And we're back!

Here's a few pictures from our trip...mostly of us taking pictures of ourselves, because who else was going to do it?


Our first day...the view from our room.


We did this maze in a half hour - the record is 7 minutes. We suck!



Aren't we good lookin'? Celebrating our anniversary.


Waimea Falls Park


Waimea Falls - where you can no longer dive off the rocks.


The sunset at the luau we attended.


The Paradise Cove luau. Highly recommended.


The view from Diamond Head


And here's our Hawaiian boys with the goodies we came home with.

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

But I do know when I'll be back again! We're leaving tomorrow for the paradise I know as Hawaii. We'll be back next Wednesday. And we're going sans kids. It's not that I don't love my sweet darlings, but I'm so looking forward to a week of peace and quiet, and not having to cut up someone else's dinner when we go out.

So, here's to 10 years of marriage, and many more to come!

Today I cried

I cried in front of the dentist today. I couldn't help it. I've been to the dentist three times this week. And every time I go, they keep telling me it's going to cost me more money. I have to get a crown on one of my teeth, and I knew that was going to cost some bucks - $1300. But I also had to get a major teeth cleaning - $95; an upcoming root planing (don't ask) which takes two different appointments to complete - $600; and oral surgery to remove a different tooth - $???.

Today, after I went in for the first step of getting my crown the dentist tells me that, basically, my gums aren't good enough for a crown. She has to do surgery...I just started crying. She asked what was wrong, and I said, I cannot afford this. It's too much. She felt very bad and then started back pedaling and telling me that I might not need it, she needs to see my gums after the inflammation goes down, and she might be able to do some simple procedure that she wouldn't even charge me for. I found out a few minutes later that if she does, in fact, have to perform the surgery it will cost me an additional $850. I'm kind of beginning to wonder if they're scamming me a little. I guess maybe tears can work to your benefit sometimes.

I am now praying, and asking God to heal my gums so that this procedure will not be necessary. I just don't want to have to afford all of this. It's not how I want to spend our money. The moral of the story is, if you're not going to the dentist because you just know your teeth are horrible...go anyway. Nip it in the bud, or it will start costing you serious moo-lah!!!!

Happy Birthday

We had a birthday party today. Actually two...one was for a dear friend of ours. Her name is Maddie and she turned 7. A very sweet girl, with a very wonderful family...Happy birthday Maddie!

The second party we had was for the church. Not our church, but the univeral church. Today is Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit came, after Jesus ascended into heaven. So we celebrated the birth of the new Christian church. We had beautiful red banners, and everyone wore red, and then after the service we had dinner and birthday cake. It was such a nice evening. It's fun to mix things up a little bit. Like my dad says, the world takes all the Christian holidays and secularizes them. But somehow it's not likely that they'll want to celebrate the church's birthday. So that's our own little holiday that we can celebrate without it becoming commercialized.

Where does the time go?

I guess I should write something so I can keep this blog alive! If I'm not careful, I'd let this thing go for months, which I did shortly after I started it. But I'm trying to blog once a week. It's a good start for me. I'm not much of a writer, but this is kind of fun.

So, today was a good day! It started out with us going to Paul's charter school for the last time...school's out! We didn't have anywork to turn in, because frankly, we did squat in May. Stacy asked me why I even bothered coming. I just said I thought he should have his 3rd Kindergarten evaluation. They evaluate them at the beginning, middle and end of the year. Paul is right on target with where a kindergartener should be. He didn't know the months of the year (he can do it if I prompt him, but they can't be prompted during the evaluation), or the Pledge of Allegiance. Hmmmm...I think he can survive without knowing the Pledge in Kindergarten.

After our meeting we went to Jamba Juice to celebrate. That was fun, because it was free! I had a gift card from our neighbors, because I cleaned up their house after it was TP'd while they were on vacation.

Then we went to the car wash, and got the oil changed. That took 1½ hours!!!! I was pretty darn mad by the time they were done. And there happened to be a manager by my car when they finished. So I asked how long it should have taken, and told him how long I'd been there. He said I should've been done in about 40 minutes. So, he kindly gave me a free car wash! It pays to complain politely sometimes. And yes, I was polite. I didn't scream or yell or swear (not that I swear normally, but you know...).

After work, we went to Paul's final t-ball game. He did great. He got an out, and hit a double! I'm so proud of him, because he has improved so much. After the game, they had a big BBQ and we all just hung out and talked while the kids played at the park. We didn't even get home until 9 pm! Once it was actually dark we decided it was time to get the kids home. That's why I love summer, you can just hang out and your kids can stay up later than usual because there is nothing but fun to be had!

Hope your day was a good as ours! Happy Summer!